Academic Research Partnerships & Programs Lead
Lead development of higher education researcher programs at OpenAI. Build relationships with principal investigators and R1 university labs, design phased access/fellows programs, run pilots, translate research workflows into Pro/API/ChatGPT Edu adoption, and manage a researcher community.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Build a pipeline of funded labs, research centers, and technical champions at priority R1 universities; qualify opportunities based on workflow value, funding path, influence, and expansion potential.
- Run discovery with researchers and university stakeholders to understand workflows, data and security needs, procurement constraints, and success criteria.
- Design and operate phased access and fellows programs, including eligibility, selection, offer mechanics, onboarding, office hours, community programming, and pilot goals.
- Translate research workflows into effective use of Pro, Codex, API, and ChatGPT Edu in partnership with Solutions, Product, and Education account teams.
- Manage pilots end to end, remove trust, funding, and technical blockers, and drive measurable activation, retention, and expansion.
- Turn early usage into product feedback, workflow documentation, peer proof, case studies, and repeatable enablement.
- Build clear handoffs and expansion paths from researcher to lab to institution; track fellow selection, activation, retained usage, workflow proof, conversion, and expansion.
- Launch and manage a community of researchers with events, communications and support.
Requirements
- Relevant experience in business development, program management, partnerships, or technical go-to-market work serving higher education, research, developer, or technical communities.
- Proven credibility with funded labs, hard-science researchers, or R1 universities.
- Strong program design and operating judgment, with the ability to move from an ambiguous concept to a measurable, repeatable motion.
- Technical fluency with AI platforms and research workflows; able to run credible discovery with researchers and research IT.
- Ability to navigate complex institutions across researchers, central and research IT, procurement, funders, administrators, and executive sponsors.
- Clear communication, high judgment, and strong cross-functional execution in a fast-moving environment.
Nice-to-Haves
- PhD and experience within funded lab research.
- Hands-on experience with AI platforms, developer products, or research infrastructure.
Skills
Ai Platforms, Research Workflows, Business Development, Program Management, Partnerships, Technical Go-To-Market, Higher Education, R1 Universities, Phd Research, API, Chatgpt Edu, Codex, Product Feedback, Case Studies
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